Messages

886

Lighting / Bar Mitzvah lighting suggestions

« on: May 15, 2012, 07:35:15 PM »

My cousin is having is Bar Mitzvah at the end of June, and I was going to be doing some of the photography there, and as my family is all going to be there I'm definitely going to be doing quite a bit of family shots (before, after, possibly other days as well). So, my problem is, of course, lighting. I have the 5d3 that I'll have with me, and I have the 580 EX II currently. The majority of the event (and reception) will be indoors, however with the family shots we might do some out of doors. I was thinking of renting a few speedlites w/RF triggers and stands to put in the corners for the general reception plus perhaps 1 on my camera (not blazing right in their faces), and for some more family shots, bring the stands out to the sides, put my camera on a tripod, and get some even lighting on everyone.

I'm looking to do this on somewhat of a budget (hence renting, prolly from LensRentals.com). Recommendations? Is what I have now probably more than sufficient? I'm honestly more concerned about getting the family shots, since we're basically all going to be together for the first time in forever.

Oh, and since I'm sure some in my family will with prints, whats a good quality (not super pricey tho) online photo printing service? The Walgreens of the world are OK, but even my Pixma Pro 9000 II can print much better prints with a small effort.

887

Lenses / Re: Which Prime Lens to compliment the 5d Mark iii with Kit Lens?

« on: May 15, 2012, 04:12:30 PM »

I've heard the 85L is really nice, but has is slow to focus. Just what I heard. The 135L on FF I think you'll really love. All you need is a bit of room to back up sometimes.

888

Lenses / Re: 4K to spend and I don't know what to do with it!!!

« on: May 15, 2012, 02:38:07 PM »

I'd probably go with the 7D (better AF than 5d2, although not as good high ISO). If you really want a FF body, the 5d2 is great, but once I got the 5d3 the AF blew me away compared to the 5d2 (important for a wedding), and the high ISO is a good bit better (quality of noise especially) than the 5d2. It's an expensive upgrade, $3500 just for the body and you can't use the EF-S lens on it. If you can push it, the extra $300 for the kit with the 24-105 is a good deal, as it's a very nice & versatile lens. It is only f/4, but with the 5d3 you can make it work fine.

As KreutzerPhotography said, putting your money into good glass, and maybe the 7D is a better way to go. If she wants to go up to the 5d2/5d3 at some time, I'd avoid EF-S lenses, and stick with EF for now. For used lenses, CL can be good (careful to check the glass, including the looking through to make sure there's no fungus), or keh.com I've heard is good as well.

889

Lenses / Re: Which Prime Lens to compliment the 5d Mark iii with Kit Lens?

« on: May 14, 2012, 08:35:17 PM »

If you like shooting at the long end of the 24-105, I'd recommend the 135L over one of the 85mm. The 85 f/1.8 is a great value, but I find I'm not shooting with it ever. If I shot a lot more in the studio maybe I would, but pretty much all my shots are outside of the studio.

I'm also wanting either the 24L or 35L, can't decide. Rented both, loved both.

890

Lenses / Re: What can tilt-shift lenses do that post-production cannot?

« on: May 11, 2012, 03:55:41 PM »

You will still see distortion in the 14mm. I've tried it, and it's definitely there. It mostly can be corrected with LR's lens correction, but still probably not as great as a good tilt-shift lens like the 17mm or 24mm.

Sort of....  Lens correction profiles exist for 14L II, but not for TS-Es.  The body doesn't know how much the lens has been tilted, shifted and rotated, and light fall off and distortion increase the larger the adjustments are made from the center position.

I think the point was that the TS-E will natively produce results better than an LR-corrected shot with the 14mm lens (not about correcting the TS-E shots with LR).

Ah, didn't realize that you couldn't really correct (unless you do it manually and correctly) TS-E lenses. But From my understanding I agree with neuro, the TS-E's will likely produce a much better result than even a corrected 14mm.

891

Lenses / Re: What can tilt-shift lenses do that post-production cannot?

« on: May 11, 2012, 12:47:20 PM »

if its distortion that you wish to avoid then any TSE lens is the way to go. when properly used, they are designed to minimize disortion. im not sure the 14mm wont suffer from the same distortion you find displeasing in the 16-35mm. i'm not certain as i haven't used the 14mm but i am very aware of the 16-35mm characteristics.

You will still see distortion in the 14mm. I've tried it, and it's definitely there. It mostly can be corrected with LR's lens correction, but still probably not as great as a good tilt-shift lens like the 17mm or 24mm.

892

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: 5d3 2 day experience coming from a 7D - Canon responses included...

« on: May 11, 2012, 12:17:16 PM »

Ah, well, maybe there's part of your problem. You're expecting this to be a 1D camera

?

What are you saying ?
The 5D is not good enough for IQ , etc. and you need a 1D for this ?!

Strange remark.
Also strange topic.
Still waiting for his noisy and banding example from the 5D mark III.

I was referring to the FPS and such, not the IQ. I've never used a 1D camera, but from what I've seen people post there are distinct differences above and beyond just the hardware that distinguishes a 1D from any other camera in Canon's lineup. If that's what he's used to, even the 5d3 will have various points that he might consider to be of significantly lesser quality.

893

Lenses / Re: What can tilt-shift lenses do that post-production cannot?

« on: May 10, 2012, 09:45:46 PM »

Great point agierke, not something I normally consider since I don't have a TS lens, and doing it all on a standard tripod ballhead & using PS stitch-assist hasn't worked out so well for me up to now.

894

Lenses / Re: What is the most EXOTIC Canon lens?

« on: May 10, 2012, 09:21:06 PM »

TOZ-500 russian mirror lens, 500mm f/3.5 is damn fast for a mirror lens.
Another russian, Jupiter 13 125mm f/1.5, but it covers a 4x5" film area (35mm FF equivalent framing of 49.8mm f/0.78)

That first Russian mirror, holy crap that looks huge! And f/3.5 on a mirror lens? Wow!

For the 2nd, the Jupiter-13, seeing some of the sample photos from the link, wow!

895

Lenses / Re: What can tilt-shift lenses do that post-production cannot?

« on: May 10, 2012, 08:32:29 PM »

If you are looking for a 35mm equivalent and want to buy one of the current EF lenses, then the TS-E 24 II is a far better choice than the TS-E 17 for the following reasons.

- You lose a lot more quality with a 2x converter than a 1.4x
- The 24 is sharper than the 17 to start out with
- The 17 has serious flare issues (no surprise given the front of the lens).  The 24 handles flare very well.
- The 24 can take filters, the 17 cannot (or at least cannot easily...)
- The do not have to worry as much about the front of the lens and don't have the huge lens cap to carry around

Those are all important considerations.

My concern, vis-a-vis "17mm vs 24mm", is that I will lose the wide end of the focal range (between 17mm and 24mm). It seems like a lot of the potential work I might see for this lens is with interiors. And it would seem like 24mm is going to be too tight for kitchens, entryways, master bathrooms, etc.

The 35mm equivalent is really just a "bonus" mostly, not as crucial as I might have suggested with my comment. My biggest concern is not being covered on the wide end. I can always crop a 17mm shot down to 24mm, and so on.

If I were shooting primarily outdoor shots with plenty of distance, then the 24mm would be my choice. But for the price tag, the versatility of the 17mm seems more practical for me. Maybe if there was a reverse teleconverter... then the 24mm would look a lot more practical. ;-)

17mm vs 24mm in terms of field of view reminds me of when I recently rented the 14mm. Holy wide angle batman! 17mm is a bit less wide, but it's still going to be a huge difference compared to the 24mm.

That said, all of the points kirispupis made are pretty accurate, although the lens cap isn't necessarily as big a deal I'd think. At least, as long as you don't lose it, then you're screwed until you can buy a new one.

896

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: 5d3 2 day experience coming from a 7D - Canon responses included...

« on: May 10, 2012, 08:26:54 PM »

-For the record the 7D is my tie over camera when I sold off all my 1 Series gear (as we were all expecting the 1Dx to be out last Feb, tried to get a better price for my 1 Series before everyone starts the sell-off...) I think part problem being my expectations coming from 1Ds3's and 1D4's.

Ah, well, maybe there's part of your problem. You're expecting this to be a 1D camera. It may have the new 1D class focusing system, but it's still a 5D level camera even though it does have lots of small tweaks and improvements over the 5d2.

I will say, I haven't really gotten the noise quite as bad as yours, and LR 4.1RC[1|2] cleared it right up most of the time at ISO 6400 & 8000 the time I shot at that high. It's definitely a big improvement over the 5d2@3200, that's for sure! Talk about banding!

897

Lenses / Re: What can tilt-shift lenses do that post-production cannot?

« on: May 10, 2012, 05:09:56 PM »

Save yourself some serious coin and get the original Canon TS lens and make it EF using my edmika TS/FD-EOS kit. http://www.ebay.ca/itm/170784162985?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_1049wt_1385

Its built much more solid and compact than the modern TS lenses as well. -Ed

The original TS lens looks very nice, but one feature of the current 17mm and 24mm II lenses that I really like is the ability to change the orientation between tilt and shift on the fly, which I assume the original cannot do (perhaps I'm wrong?).

While it does look like you can save quite a bit, it looks like it's still ~$900+ for the 35mm TS in FD. ~$1K savings with the conversion kit is still pretty great. They only have them in 35mm though, so if you need the super-wide of 17mm, or even wide at 24mm you're out of luck. Still, undoubtedly a great and cheap(er) way to get into the TS world!

I have purchased 3 TS 35mm 2.8 lenses and paid 350, 500 and 400 dollars for them.  keh.com is often a good place to look for this lens.

Ah, never really shopped at keh.com, although have heard of it. I was only going off of the Ebay price. For ~$400 + conversion kit (~$550 total) I'm very interested. Doesn't seem to be any up on Keh.com right now though :\

898

Lenses / Re: What can tilt-shift lenses do that post-production cannot?

« on: May 10, 2012, 03:11:56 PM »

Save yourself some serious coin and get the original Canon TS lens and make it EF using my edmika TS/FD-EOS kit. http://www.ebay.ca/itm/170784162985?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_1049wt_1385

Its built much more solid and compact than the modern TS lenses as well. -Ed

The original TS lens looks very nice, but one feature of the current 17mm and 24mm II lenses that I really like is the ability to change the orientation between tilt and shift on the fly, which I assume the original cannot do (perhaps I'm wrong?).

While it does look like you can save quite a bit, it looks like it's still ~$900+ for the 35mm TS in FD. ~$1K savings with the conversion kit is still pretty great. They only have them in 35mm though, so if you need the super-wide of 17mm, or even wide at 24mm you're out of luck. Still, undoubtedly a great and cheap(er) way to get into the TS world!

899

Lenses / Re: What can tilt-shift lenses do that post-production cannot?

« on: May 10, 2012, 02:01:47 PM »

Wow kirispupis, those are some awesome photos. I gotta rent me that lens and give it a try. Now I'll have to go find some interesting buildings to shoot.

900

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: 5d3 2 day experience coming from a 7D - Canon responses included...

« on: May 10, 2012, 01:49:21 AM »

Perhaps some obvious thoughts here but have you tried different lenses?  Is it possible the camera is flawed?  Do you have any filters on? I saw one other guy write in here about global issues on all lenses (think it was sharpness related) and after a replacement of the camera all of the problems were gone.  How fast is the card in your camera and is it CF or SD and have you viewed the chart on the various cards and there clocked speeds within the 5D Mark iii (Rob Golbriath I think did the charts)?  Silent mode is off I presume ?  Auto Optimizer..is that off ?  Are you shooting in RAW or JPG ?

Good point on the lens. Are you using the 50mm f/1.8? Or the better 1.4 or 1.2?